The invention relates to an in-line roller skate consisting of a chassis equipped with at least two rollers and having two platforms and with a boot with a flexible upper resting on the platforms and connected to the chassis by a rigid part.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,466 discloses an in-line roller skate the boot of which consists of a flexible upper bonded to a rigid base, itself welded to the chassis or forming an integral part of this chassis. Such a construction does not allow the boot to be detached from the chassis, for example to replace the boot by a boot of a different size.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,752 and U.S. Pat. No. CA 2,101,718 disclose roller skates with releasable boots, consisting of a chassis formed integrally with means of supporting the boot and of a boot with a flexible sole and upper allowing walking. The support means are in the form of a rigid cradle to which a cuff intended to surround the upper part of the boot upper is hinged. As the practice of roller skating is essentially a summer sport, the front part of the cradle, which surrounds and covers the front of the foot, is perforated to allow air to the foot, but in spite of this the ventilation is often insufficient. What is more, while it is true that the flexible boot is pressed against the bottom and sides of the cradle, it can however move and deform in the cradle, which means that the connection between foot and skaters is not as good as it is in a fixed-boot skate.
Published Patent Appliecation DE 30 43 425 discloses a skate in which the flexible upper of the boot is held between a rigid inner sole and a rigid outer piece the assembly being fixed non-releasably to two platforms of the chassis by studs from the inner sole passing through the rigid outer piece and the platforms to which they are fixed by crushing.
The object of the invention is to obtain a roller skate in which the boot, fixed or releasable, has a flexible upper, is well ventilated, and can be fixed to a chassis in a readily detachable or releasable way, particularly to a standard chassis, and in which the connection to the chassis is provided by a rigid part which provides a good interface between the leg and the chassis, with practically no play.
To this end, the roller skate according to the invention is one wherein the rigid part of the boot consists exclusively of a footbed or inside connected to the inside of the flexible upper and extending at least from the heel to about the middle of the sole.
According to an embodiment with a non-releasable but detachable boot, the rigid insole extends from the heel to the front end of the boot and is fixed to the platforms of the chassis by screws resting on the insole. In order to detach the boot from the chassis all that is therefore required is for the comfort sole covering the insole to be removed and the screws unscrewed. It is thus easily possible to replace the boot with a boot of a different size or to replace a damaged boot such a boot can be used with a standard chassis like those available commercially.
According to another embodiment, the insole of two rigid parts which overlap each other between the points at which the insole is fixed to the platforms so as to be longitudinally moveable one with respect to the other and at least one of the platforms and/or one of the parts of the insole is designed in such a way as to allow the insole to be attached with said parts in different relative positions. The boot can thus be adapted to the length of the foot, particularly in the case of skates for children and youths.
The skate will generally be equipped with a heel reinforcement at the rear, to which a bottom of-cuff is hinged. However, there is no rigid part covering the front of the boot, which means that this front part, which tends to perspire, remains well ventilated.
According to a releasable-boot embodiment, the rigid insole extends from the heel to about the middle of the sole and has attachment means for releasably fixing it to the chassis, the latter being equipped with corresponding releasable means of attachment.
According to one embodiment of this releasable-boot skate, the attachment means consist, at the front, of a hook secured to the chassis and engaging longitudinally in or over the rigid footbed and, at the rear, of a pawl secured to the chassis and of a toothed part at the rear of the rigid insole, in which toothed part said pawl engages.